Many amusement rides have been developed over the years which are directed to providing passengers with the exhilaration of rapid vertical movement in a safe manner. Typically, a support tower has been used to either suspend a passenger by a cord, or the support tower acts to vertically track a passenger cart or carriage. Several inventions in this field have been previously patented.
One vertically moving amusement ride is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,841. There, a piston having a cable attached to it is slidably mounted in a bore. As the piston is moved, the cable also moves. The cable is configured to proceeds along the bore through a first aperture near the first end of the housing, around a first pulley, along the exterior of the housing, around a second pulley, through a second aperture near the second end of the housing, and along the bore again before entering or attaching to the piston. The second end of the cable is connected to the first end of the cable forming a cable loop. A carrier is attached to the cable along the exterior of the housing such that when the carrier is near the second end of the housing when the piston is near the first end of the housing. Compressed gas can be used to move the piston within the bore. An exhaust valve is designed to be opened or closed. Additionally, a deceleration control valve located near the first end of the housing and closer to the first end of the housing than the exhaust valve is present and can be adjusted to provide a desired effect. By selectively injecting compressed gas into the bore at the two locations and by controlling the exhaust valve and the deceleration control valve, at least five modes of oscillation may be achieved.
In other disclosures, other mechanisms are disclosed. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,616, a carrier is moved vertically and its travel controlled by a guide cable. Compressed air flows into the bottom of an acceleration tube to eject the carrier. At the upper end of the guide cable, an emergency deceleration tube provides pneumatic braking. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,410, a spherical passenger-holding body is disclosed which has a diameter slightly smaller than that of a tube. A turbine forces air into the bottom of the tube, raising the carrier in the tube. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,574, a similar device is disclosed having an additional feature wherein the turbine draws air from the top of the tube rather than pushing air into the bottom of the tube. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,221, a cab is raised within a tube by the creation of suction at the top of the tube. Deceleration is produced by decreasing the vacuum above the carrier. A valve can be opened to allow air to enter the tube at a rate which causes the carrier to descend at specific speeds. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,953, a transporter is raised inside of a shaft from a lower horizontal level to the top of the shaft with pressurized air supplied below the carrier by compressors. The top of the shaft incorporates restraining means to hold the carrier at that position. A non-return valve precludes air from leaving the bottom of the shaft, thereby limiting the speed of deceleration under emergency conditions. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,060, a gondola chute combination is disclosed. The chute has an air vent at its upper end and an air vent at its lower end. An air motor can force air through the lower vent. When the air motor brings air into the chute below the carrier, the carrier is raised. For a deceleration, the carrier falls under the force of gravity. The rate of deceleration can be increased by removing air from below the carrier with the air motor. The rate of deceleration can be reduced by closing the upper vent to create a vacuum above the carrier, by closing the lower vent, or by using the air motor to bring additional air into the chute below the carrier.
Though many of these amusement rides provide an effective means of vertical travel, it would be useful to provide an amusement ride for vertical movement utilizing these and other known movement mechanisms such that the carrier or cart has support arms or walls which extending outwardly or radially from the tower. Thus, a plurality of passenger seats may be configured radially with respect to one another. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide a carrier wherein more passengers could participate on a single ride, and optionally, face other passengers during the ride experience. These and other advantages may be realized by the practice of the present invention.